In the quirky, sassy voice that has made her popular on health Web sites and with the women of MS MOMS, Lorna Moorhead recounts the experience of her first year with multiple sclerosis with a vitality unique in the often gloomy world of personal medical histories.

Rather than focusing on the sadness and difficulties that followed her diagnosis, Moorhead deals with the practical problems faced by many MS patients: how to parent effectively, stand up to doctors who think she looks "fine," and what to do with the mixed bag of cognitive difficulties. Moorhead is a real-life person with real-life reactions to MS-she fights back when people attack her for parking in the handicapped spot even though she looks normal and she faces life with a spunky humor that will lift the spirits and encourage others fighting the disease. Hilarious, yet telling chapter headings such as "Not Tonight Dear, I Have MS" give readers a quick insight into the mind of this vibrant, intelligent woman.

ExcerptIn the opening chapter, Lorna finds out she has Multiple Sclerosis when her neurologist screws up and lets it slip before the official diagnosis.

-You know you have MS when your neurologist mistakenly asks, “So what are you taking for your MS?” when he is supposed to be telling you about your spinal tap results. This may sound like a bad joke but this was the gentle way my diagnosis was handed to me.-
She then moves on to describe MS, likening its raging white cells to rogue knights and the brain to the King. She finds herself overly curious about the “holes” in her head and wants to discover more about MS.

-What amazed me about the range of MS books was that they all seemed the same. That would imply not much of a “range.” I mean, how many different choices must you have to make a “range of choices”?-